Bearcats Win NWC Championship in Men's Golf, Qualify for NCAA Tournament
By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
SPOKANE, Wash. -- The Willamette University men's golf team won the 2020-21 Northwest Conference Championship and received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament after finishing second at the NWC Tournament, which ended on Sunday, April 18 at the Kalispel Golf and Country Club. The Bearcats placed second at the NWC Fall Classic, won the NWC Spring Classic, and claimed the overall title with their second place finish at the NWC Tournament.
All three NWC events contributed to the overall title. Willamette earned 29 points from the three events to claim the championship. Whitworth University, which won this weekend's NWC Tournament, finished with 27 points and placed second overall. Pacific Lutheran University placed fourth at the NWC Tournament and recorded a total of 25 points to place third in the championship race. George Fox University took third place at the NWC Tournament and placed fourth overall with 23 points.
Rounding out the NWC Championship standings were the University of Puget Sound in fifth place with 15 points, Linfield University in sixth with 13, Whitman College in seventh with eight, Pacific University in eighth with four, and Lewis & Clark College with no points.
Whitman won the NWC Tournament title with a score of 596, including a 1-under par 287 in the second round. The Pirates shot 309 in the first round. Willamette placed second at 602 with rounds of 300 and 302. George Fox was third at 621 (315-306), while Pacific Lutheran placed fourth at 629 (316-313) and Puget Sound was fifth at 635 (324-311). Linfield followed in sixth place at 645 (323-322), with Whitman in seventh at 658 (325-333) and Pacific in eighth at 668 (336-332). Lewis & Clark College did not field a complete team.
Reilly Hegarty of Whitworth earned the individual title at 145. He carded a 79 in the first round, but improved to a 7-under par 66 in the second round. It was the low round of the tournament by five strokes. Austin Davis (Jr., Culver City, CA/Culver City HS) from Willamette grabbed second place at 147. He opened the tournament with a 72 on Saturday and shot a 75 on Sunday. Alex Weirth (So., Port Orchard, WA/Crosspoint Academy) of Willamette and Will Alexander of Whitworth tied for third place at 148. Weirth shot 75-73, while Alexander shot 74-74.
Weirth recorded an eagle 3 for the Bearcats on the par 5 12th hole on Sunday to go along with four birdies during the round. Davis also registered four birdies for Willamette on Sunday.
Caleb Belton from Whitworth was fifth at 150, as he carded 79 and 71. Mason Koch of George Fox was sixth at 151 (75-76) and Dante Heitschmidt from GFU was seventh at 152 (81-71). Reynn Hoshide from Puget Sound placed eighth with a score of 153 (80-73).
Andrew Kibbee (Jr., Kenmore, WA/Bothell HS) of Willamette and Jared Beals from Pacific Lutheran finished tied for ninth at 154. Kibbee shot 78-76 and Beals shot 75-79. Riley Lankford (So./Fy., Pilot Rock, OR/Pilot Rock HS) of the Bearcats shared 11th place with Trevor Price from Linfield, as both golfers ended the 36 holes at 155. Lankford carded 75 and 80, while Price shot 77-78.
Aunders Erickson (Grad., Portland, OR/Westview HS/Ohio Wesleyan Univ.) of Willamette registered a score of 165. He improved from an 87 in the first round to a 78 in the second round.
The NCAA Division III Men's Golf Championship is scheduled for May 11-14 in Wheeling, West Virginia. The tournament will be held at the Oglebay Resort and Conference Center.